Elizabeth Turner

Turner is 3.82 G.P.A. student. She will graduate from UCC in June 2021 with her AAS in Nursing. She plans to enroll at Eastern Oregon University in their online BSN course in fall 2021 and will earn her degree in June 2022. Her goal is to work on a critical care unit at a larger hospital and hopes become a nurse with a travelling medical care unit that will place her in areas of high medical need. She is passionate about helping populations in need and providing support to healthcare staff in times of health crises.

She is considering furthering her career after several years of work as an RN by returning to school to become a Nurse Practitioner. Her dream is to open clinics and provide more comprehensive care to people in the community.

Turner, who has developed an interest in diabetic care, has dedicated time educating herself about the disparities in a community and finding ways that she can make an impact.

“I know that with a higher education, I will have more of an opportunity to make a real impact, Turner said. In Douglas County, diabetic care is not something that is readily available to the community, so people must commute for hours to receive it. I know that I can change this by becoming a nurse and finding resources to create a program where people have the opportunity to successfully take care of themselves.

Turner’s Campus and Community Activities:

• Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center Clothing Drive and Closet set up at center to provide resources to help inmates to obtain job when they are released.
• Blue Zones Project/Total Health Improvement Program
• Umpqua Community College Nursing/Human Trafficking education
• Fundraiser/breast cancer awareness event
• Foot care for low socioeconomic members of the community

Faith Byars

Faith Byars is a 4.0 G.P.A. student earning an Associate of General Studies degree; she intends to transfer to the University of Oregon in Fall 2021 to pursue a degree in English Language and Literature. She hopes to have a career in the publishing industry as a writer and editor and wants to a published author in both literary fiction and in nonfiction work. Her goal for editing is to work either independently or in a publishing house to review authors’ manuscripts and oversee the process that helps to perfect their work. Ultimately, I want to tell, and help others tell, stories, Byars said.

Byars began tutoring at UCC in September 2019 and soon became the center’s main writing tutor. By winter term, I noticed consistent complaints from students: peer-reviews were confusing and largely unhelpful, and few understood how to edit a rough draft, she said. As a writer, tutor and fellow student, these complaints resonated with me. Furthermore, as an aspiring editor, I believed I could solve this problem.

Through tutoring workshops that she created, she helped a nursing student successfully prepare for a program acceptance exam. She also helped a student who spoke English as a second language to dramatically improve a final paper’s quality. I learned so much from this process and helped students learn more about something I love, she said.

Byars’ Campus and Community Activities:

• Managing Editor (former Social Media Director) of UCC’s The Mainstream student newspaper
• 5-Star Officer with Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Sigma Upsilon chapter
• Academic Coach and Peer Tutor with the UCC Success Center
• Student Representative on UCC’s Early Momentum Metrics Committee
• Operation Christmas Child yearly independent box curator